Suzanne Laird to STRS Board: Something is rotten in the state of DeWine, and it will drive teachers out of the state of Ohio.

Suzanne Laird’s speech to the STRS Board 

May 18, 2023

Good Morning, Members of MY Board :

Why would anyone choose to be a teacher in the state of Ohio?

After working 35 years, giving 14 percent of every paycheck to a pension system that cannot seem to turn a profit, a teacher in Ohio will sign a (quote) “binding” contract with STRS, only to have it negated, leaving that Ohio teacher without a COLA.

IF you choose to teach in Ohio, and you require childcare, it certainly isn’t on-site child care, subsidized by others.

IF you choose to teach in Ohio, and you have time to go to a gym, it certainly isn’t an on-site, ten dollar-a-month gym.

And IF you have time for lunch, your cafeteria is one where you serve duty, supervising students while returning phone calls and texts to parents, maybe getting a bite of food you paid full price for.

Why would anyone teach in Ohio, a state where Governor DeWine capriciously recalls a pension Board member, on a whim, just before an election announcement, nullifying your vote?

And replaces that honorable Board member with a deep-pocketed crony, one with expertise not in education, but real estate. Well, perhaps the realtor can sell this Taj Mahal. Even the Minister of Propaganda cannot convince us there was no collusion between this institution and the one just down the street, given the “coincidental” timing.

Why pay the Propaganda Minister $195,000, when the head honcho writes a piece for the local newspaper himself, gaslighting the public? Why would a teacher in Ohio trust STRS Board members who do not raise questions regarding this latest example of corruption? Why would a teacher bother to ever vote again? This Board may not have control over other crooked chambers, but you eleven hold the fate of future educators in your hands.

When teachers across Ohio see their Board members voting, year after year, for raises and bonuses, but not voting to alleviate the injustices done to teachers, it is no wonder they will go elsewhere.

Something is rotten in the state of DeWine, and it will drive teachers out of the state of Ohio.